The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced the return of control over Kherson, which Russia seized in early March. The city was occupied for more than eight months. The Russian servicemen who remained in Kherson were called upon to surrender, promising them safety, life and the possibility of a subsequent exchange.
Residents of Kherson took to the streets with Ukrainian flags and met the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which entered the city from its western outskirts. After the departure of the Russian military in the suburbs of Kherson, propaganda posters with the inscriptions "Russia is here forever" began to be torn down.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on November 11, at 05:00, the withdrawal of Russian forces from the right bank of the Dnieper was completed. Later, the department clarified that over 30,000 Russian military personnel had been withdrawn to the left bank. The representative of the department, Igor Konashenkov, added that "about five thousand units of military equipment, as well as material property" were transferred to the left bank of the Dnieper.
“As a result of effective management and well-coordinated actions of Russian units, not a single piece of military equipment and weapons was left on the right bank. All Russian servicemen have been transferred to the left bank of the Dnieper,” Konashenkov said.
Despite the fact that the Russian Ministry of Defense claims that not a single vehicle was left during the withdrawal of troops (there are allegedly no casualties among the personnel either), trophies of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kherson are published on social networks. For example, the T-90A tank.
Undermining the Antonovsky bridge
On the night of November 11, when Russian troops were leaving Kherson, the Antonovsky bridge was blown up. Russian bloggers and Ukrainian media also published photos and videos of the blown up Antonovsky bridge. The OSINTtechnical project reports that the Antonovsky railway bridge, which is located 6 km from the main one, was also blown up.
Maxar Technologies has published satellite images of the bridge, which show that the structure collapsed in several places, some spans went under water. The railroad track was also destroyed.
A video appeared on Telegram channels of how Russian soldiers walk along the barge bridge, which was located near the Antonovsky bridge.
Late in the evening of November 11, the Russian propaganda publication Izvestia published a video of the explosion of the Antonovsky bridge in the Kherson region.
The main group of Russian troops left long before the order of Sergei Shoigu and the subsequent undermining of the bridge. Throughout the night, the Russian military crossed the Dnieper, which can be seen on satellite images . Several ferries and barges cross the river at once.
After the bridges were blown up, the offensive of the RF Armed Forces on Nikolaev and Krivoy Rog became impossible, the Dnieper River became the line of combat contact in the southern sector of the front. The territory on both sides of the river is flat with excellent visibility, the right bank is slightly higher than the left, which gives the APU an advantage.
The Nikolaev region on the eve was almost completely freed from the Russian military. This was announced by people's deputy and secretary of the parliamentary committee on national defense Roman Kostenko. Today, November 11, this information was confirmed by the head of the Nikolaev OVA, Vitaly Kim, noting that the Kinburn Spit still remains under the control of the Russian troops.
Prepare for defense in Crimea
The withdrawal of Russian troops from the right bank of the Dnieper and from Kherson opens up many opportunities for Ukraine, both logistical and combat. In particular, new kill zones for HIMARS MLRS missiles are emerging. The firing range of M31 ammunition for HIMARS is 85 km. Based on this, it can be assumed that if the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not get to the Crimea, then they will probably get to the section of the railway at the entrance to the peninsula.
Military expert, retired Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Roman Svitan told The Insider that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will now very quickly begin to clean up Kherson and restore the city.
“Mopping-up operations will take place, the Ministry of Emergency Situations will come in, the city will be cleared of mines, special services will come in to filter the city, i.e. those tasks will be carried out, the algorithm of which has already been worked out in the Kharkiv region, as was the case in Izyum and Kupyansk. The same algorithm will be in the Kherson region – cleaning will be immediately, and restoration and general filtration for several weeks.
According to Svitan, Ukrainian troops will take up positions on the left bank in the coming days, but they will most likely enter Crimea later.
“In order to go to the Crimea, then several tens of thousands of well-trained troops are needed here, which will be transported from the right to the left bank. I do not think that from a military point of view, entering the Crimea is now justified. You can take a certain bridgehead, for example, from Alyoshka to the Black Sea, but the movement immediately to the Crimea will depend on the number of personnel and means, theoretically it is possible, although in reality it is better to transfer Ukrainian troops to the left bank and further put pressure on Russian troops away from – near Orekhov, Gulyaipol, Tokmak and Melitopol. There is still an option to get out from under Orekhov to Mariupol, or maybe both. I would begin to clean up the corridors to the Crimea, cutting it in the area of Mariupol, Melitopol or Berdyansk. It will be much easier to resolve issues with the left-bank group of Russians and enter Crimea from Melitopol.”
The WarMonitor project, meanwhile, reports , referring to the data of local residents, that Russian military equipment is massively moving around the city of Alyoshka.
Meanwhile, the Russian side began preparations for the defense of the Crimea. In the southeastern part of the Kherson region in the village of Genicheskaya Gorka near the border with Crimea, employees of the Russian holding Avtoban are digging trenches, Sirena reported. A relative of one of the workers said that the builders arrived on a business trip before November 20, they promise to pay the workers 6,500 rubles a day. The footage published from the village shows how Russian military equipment is moving in.
Military expert Sergei Grabsky, in an interview with The Insider, also noted that there is no need to pursue the enemy on the left bank now.
“Ukrainian troops on the left bank are in the zone on the line from Vasilyevka, Orekhovo and Gulyaipole. There is no need to force the Dnieper. This conditional triangle in Novaya Kakhovka, Armyansk and Hola Pristan is under the full fire control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Why put the lives of soldiers at risk when you can destroy the enemy with long-range fire destruction systems. Any operation to cross the river requires a very large effort of funds, and there is not much sense in it, because the next goal is Melitopol. This triangle is of value only in the sense that it is a cover for the North Crimean Canal. Yes, Russian troops can dig in there, make defense lines there, but this will be a training ground for working out targets with Ukrainian weapons. They will try to bombard Kherson and it is likely that he will look like Nikolaev. Russian criminals have destroyed all civilian infrastructure, plundered the city and will now turn it into rubble. Soldiers don't do that, soldiers don't fight civilians. They will shell the city, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will respond. What we observed from August to November on the right bank is transferred to the left bank. Now it is important to look at Melitopol, because with the liberation of Melitopol, in fact, this entire part of southern Ukraine simply collapses. It will be as difficult for Russia to keep it as it was for the last two days for the Kherson region.”
Donetsk direction
Pro-Russian Telegram channels report that the Russian troops took Opytnoye today and advanced slightly in Pervomaiskoe. The battles for Vodiane continue. The offensive plan, as Boris Rozhin, an expert of the Center for Military-Political Journalism, notes , is quite transparent: take Pervomaiskoye and Vodyanoye and turn to Thin, the capture of which will allow establishing fire control over the Orlovka-Avdiivka road, which will create a direct threat to the operational encirclement of the Avdiivka grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In the Bakhmut section of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, an attempt was made to attack in the directions of Zaitsevo and Otradovka, the Rybar Telegram channel writes. According to this information, the attack was repulsed.
Also, pro-Russian channels claim that near Gorlovka, Russian troops took Mayorsk.
See also The Insider's November 10 military summary: Ukrainian intelligence reports in Kherson, Russian flag in Pavlovka, Donetsk region. What's Happening on the Front Line .
